Alleged rugby rape victim did not ask witness for help, court told

A woman who claims to have been raped by two Irish rugby players did not seek help when another female walked in on the alleged attack, a court has heard.

Belfast Crown Court was told she was "petrified" of being filmed.

During cross examination on day six of the high-profile trial, Brendan Kelly QC said: "Why did you not ask for her help?"

The woman responded: "What was she going to do?

"I didn't know her. I thought she was going to film me."

Paddy Jackson, from Oakleigh Park in Belfast, and Stuart Olding, from Ardenlee Street in the city, deny raping the same woman at a house in south Belfast in June 2016.

Jackson denies a further charge of sexual assault.

Paddy Jackson.

Two other men have also been returned for trial on charges connected with the incident alleged to have happened at an after-party following an evening at a Belfast nightclub on June 28, 2016.

Blane McIlroy, 26, from Royal Lodge Road, Ballydollaghan, Belfast, has pleaded not guilty to one count of exposure, while Rory Harrison, 25, from Manse Road, Belfast, denies perverting the course of justice and withholding information.

Mr Kelly, who is defending Jackson, added: "She might have helped you and stopped them raping you.

"That's what she could have done. Isn't it?

"She could have said 'stop' couldn't she?"

"You would have been able to point to the blood and the tears, if they were there."

The woman said: "In that moment, I was so petrified of being recorded I just turned my head away.

"It was too late.

"I had already been raped."

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has been giving evidence from behind a screen.

Her testimony is played to the court on a screen.

The court has previously heard how she had been attending an after-party at Jackson's house with a number of other men and women.

She had consensually kissed Jackson in a bedroom earlier in the night.

The rape is alleged to have happened when she returned to the bedroom to retrieve a clutch bag, the court heard.

She rejected defence suggestions she had consented to sex and invited Olding to join in.

Stuart Olding.

Mr Kelly said: "When Stuart Olding walked in you were engaged in consensual sexual acts were you not with Paddy Jackson?

"When he walked in it was you who motioned him towards the bed. Do you accept that or not?"

The woman replied: "No, I do not."

She was asked whether she was aware of any "sexual noises" such as groaning and moaning "more consistent with pleasure than pain" before the witness had walked into the bedroom.

"There were no pleasurable noises coming from me, no," she told the court.

At one point during proceedings, the woman wiped away tears.

She also contested defence claims she had taken her top off by "agreement".

Although she could not recall who made the alleged request, the woman said: "I was ordered to take my top off.

A teacher who ordered five primary schoolgirls to sellotape their own mouths for chatting and giggling in class was properly removed for professional misconduct from the Teaching Council of Ireland’s Register of Teachers, the High Court has ruled.